British journal of anaesthesia
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Since the performance of the first thoracic spinal anaesthetic in early 1908 many anaesthetists have gained interest in this unorthodox neuraxial anaesthetic technique. The main rationale justifying its use is to prevent complications related to general anaesthesia in high-risk patient populations. ⋯ The main concerns are fear of iatrogenic injury to the spinal cord, cephalad spread of local anaesthetic causing a complete spinal block, and haemodynamic instability owing to blockade of cardioaccelerator sympathetic fibres. The purpose of this narrative review is to appraise the literature critically regarding thoracic spinal anaesthesia, to synthesise the available information, and to provide a summary of evidence justifying its use in modern anaesthesia.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Driving pressure-guided ventilation and postoperative pulmonary complications in thoracic surgery: a multicentre randomised clinical trial.
Airway driving pressure, easily measured as plateau pressure minus PEEP, is a surrogate for alveolar stress and strain. However, the effect of its targeted reduction remains unclear. ⋯ NCT04260451.
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Postoperative pulmonary complications are a source of morbidity after major surgery. In patients at increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications we sought to assess the association between neuromuscular blocking agent reversal agent and development of postoperative pulmonary complications. ⋯ In a cohort of patients at increased risk for pulmonary complications compared with neostigmine, use of sugammadex was independently associated with reduced risk of subsequent development of pneumonia or respiratory failure.
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Editorial Comment
Experimental asynchrony to study self-inflicted lung injury.
Patient self-inflicted lung injury may be associated with worse clinical outcomes and higher mortality. Patient-ventilator asynchrony is associated with increased ventilator days and mortality, and it has been hypothesised as one of the important mechanisms leading to patient self-inflicted lung injury. ⋯ Their results suggest that increased patient-ventilator asynchrony associated with poor clinical outcomes reported in observational trials could be a marker, rather than a cause of patient self-inflicted lung injury. These findings on their own are not sufficient to justify a greater tolerance of patient-ventilator asynchrony amongst clinicians, a change for which further experimental work and clinical evidence is needed.
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Patient-ventilator asynchrony during mechanical ventilation may exacerbate lung and diaphragm injury in spontaneously breathing subjects. We investigated whether subject-ventilator asynchrony increases lung or diaphragmatic injury in a porcine model of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). ⋯ Subject-ventilator asynchrony during spontaneous breathing did not exacerbate lung injury and dysfunction in experimental porcine ARDS.